


Count On Me

by that_one_kid



Series: Lack of Adult Supervision (Camp Counselor AU) [5]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Frodo is a curious little shit, Gen, Legolas and Gimli hanging out, Sort Of, THE COUNT - Freeform, The Fellowship of the Mystery, and what they're counting, kid hobbits, mostly - Freeform, overcoming their parent's biases, the hobbits are observant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 10:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20357314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_one_kid/pseuds/that_one_kid
Summary: Frodo has a question - just what are Gimli and Legolas counting? And why? The solution - The Fellowship of the Mystery, and some childhood conspiracies.





	Count On Me

**Author's Note:**

> I had to get the count in there somewhere, right?
> 
> See end note for trigger warnings.

Frodo sat on his bed, chin carefully steepled in slender fingers. His forehead furrowed, he stared off into empty space. It was a posture he’d carefully copied from his favorite books, in the hopes that like the protagonists of the best mysteries, a realization would strike him. 

“Whatcha thinking about, Frodo?” Pippin asked, clambering up to the top bunk across from the older hobbit. 

“Pippin!” Sam scolded from the bunk below. “Can’t you see Mr. Frodo is concentrating?” 

“Sorry,” Pippin said, not sounding the least bit sorry. “Whatcha concentrating on?” 

“It may do me some good to talk it through, I suppose,” Frodo conceded. “You know Legolas and Gimli?” 

“The archery instructor and the spe- uh, spel-, the cave guy?” Pippin answered. 

“Spe-lunk-ing,” Frodo volunteered helpfully. “And yeah, them. Have any of you guys heard them counting recently?” 

“Now that you mention it,” Merry said, sticking his head out of the mound of blankets he’d made in the corner, “I’ve heard something of the sort a lot recently.” 

“Legolas said something under his breath the other day and I thought it might have been ‘four,’ but that didn’t make any sense,” Sam chimed in. 

“There’s something behind this,” Frodo declared. “We’ll get to the bottom of it, I’m sure. From now on, whenever we have free time or we’re around those instructors, we’ll stick to them like the gum Pippin stuck in Gandalf’s beard,”

“That was an accident!” Pippin objected, over general laughter. 

“Are we agreed, then?” Frodo asked. 

“We’re agreed. We’ll make a fellowship!” Merry said. 

And so the Fellowship of the Mystery was formed. 

On the first day, Pippin reported that Legolas counted under his breath twice when retrieving him and Merry from the archery range just before a volley was loosed. Sam reported that Gimli counted under his breath once when he doubled back in the caves. They agreed that this didn’t prove anything, and resolved to keep up their mission. 

The next day was a Saturday, and Frodo volunteered to go with Aragorn and Legolas into the woods on the weekly sunrise hike they led. This, apparently, made him the first student to ever do so. They kept up a pace he found quite easy to match, and told him funny stories about the camps of the previous years, and he completely forgot his mission until he saw Aragorn trip on a tree root and Legolas snag his pack in time to stop him tumbling from the path. Frodo could have sworn that Legolas had said ‘one,’ but so softly it was almost inaudible. Sam and Merry took Gimli’s beginning sculpture course offered Saturday night and reported that they hadn’t heard any counting at all. 

Sunday the boys were made to do laundry, shower, and clean their rooms. They nearly forgot about their quest entirely in the boring hum-drum of the day. But at last Monday dawned, bright and clear. The four of them had archery first thing that morning, and the Fellowship set out determined to succeed. Toward the end of the hour, an unheard-of occurrence - Gimli, having dropped his class off a few minutes early, came to the archery range and stood next to Legolas. 

“Twenty-one just last week, elf,” Gimli said, in a cheerfully threatening manner. Legolas smiled, without taking his eyes off the range, and said “Twenty-three.” Gimli tossed his hands into the air and glowered. The children shrank back, but Legolas simply called time and had them start putting their equipment away. Sam could not linger, for Legolas kept an extra close eye on him around the archery range these days, but Frodo, Merry, and Pippin drew close to the two instructors. 

“The range is an advantage,” Gimli said, distinctly pouting. 

“Yes, of course it is,” Legolas replied, laughing. “For many reasons, the most pressing of which is that I never have to venture underground into damp caverns.” 

“My caves are neither damp, nor a disadvantage!” Gimli huffed, and Legolas turned to face him as the last arrows were put away. 

“Then you’ll just have to beat me this week and prove it.” With a tip of an imaginary cap, Legolas turned and led the class away from his fuming opponent. Glancing back, though, Frodo was pretty sure he saw Gimli smile. 

That night at dinner, Legolas was walking between tables when something caught his ankle. He twisted about, dropping his tray and trying valiantly to land on his feet. Just before he hit the ground, Gimli caught him and set him upright, saying in a perfectly level voice, “One.” Legolas, his face curiously bemused, looked at the other instructor for a long time before saying something that nearby campers swore was “We’re going to have to rewrite some rules.” 

The Fellowship of the Mystery, Frodo declared, had solved the mystery. Legolas and Gimli were counting saves, and adults were very strange. 

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings for: Children in dangerous situations


End file.
